Fire in Audi on Mumbai street

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Mumbai, Jan. 27: A Rs 1-crore Audi caught fire in Mumbai today but its two occupants escaped, the incident unfolding around the time of a car rally whose organisers denied the luxury model was a participant.

The blaze in the Audi R8 raged over half an hour on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link before the fire brigade, alerted by a call around 12.25pm, arrived on the scene and put out the flames.

The fire brigade did not specify who the callers were but an official said the two occupants managed to escape without injuries. They said the blaze could have taken place because of engine overheating after the car was revved up.

Speculation about the link with the luxury and vintage car rally grew because the event, covering the Sea Link stretch, had just got over.

But Gautam Singhania, chairman and director of Raymond Ltd, whose company hosts the annual Parx Super Car Show, said the Audi owner was not a participant. However, he appeared to suggest that some of the rally officials had helped the Audi occupants escape the inferno.

“Today had a unique opportunity to save an unknown hapless driver out of an Audi R8 which caught fire on Sea Link along with my SCC members,” Singhania tweeted.

Michael Perschke, head of Audi India who was present at the rally, said a “technical investigation” was under way into the cause of the fire.